THE PERFECT MAESTRO

                                          THE PERFECT MAESTRO

     "Strike up the orchestra," I can almost hear God say during certain situations. I can imagine Him tuning up certain species of angels, calling them to do their specific duties in order for a situation to be perfected as prayers are answered.
     My husband Steve and I experienced the divine orchestration by God as He arranged and rearranged a tense situation for us.
     We had an appointment at MD Anderson with Steve's oncologist at 2:30 on Wednesday after my husband had completed his blood test, his chest x-ray and his CT scan the night before.
     After the scheduled appointment with the oncology doctor, we had allotted almost five hours leeway before our scheduled airplane flight took off for our trip home. However, our appointment with the doctor was delayed and he didn't even enter the exam room until 3:30. Things seemed to be getting complicated. We knew we still had time for the scheduled flight, but it would be close.
     Then the oncologist gave us some shocking news, that my husband had a blood clot in his left lung caused by the tumors but that it would be easily taken care of with daily subcutaneous shots in his stomach.
     The next statement of the doctor dropped a bombshell into our plans to make the plane flight. He said that we should go to the pharmacy at the Main Building on the 10th floor, get the shots, then come back to his exam room where Angie, his primary oncology nurse, would show us how to administer the shots. We surmised there would be no problem, that we could still make the plane flight.
    Enter the problem. The technician at the pharmacy said it would be an hour before the shots would be ready, making it impossible to make the flight.
     We caught the elevator, ran from the elevator to the doctor's office, waited to see Angie, the primary nurse, where we told her our dilemma.
Angie, smiling at us like she had been doing during the long afternoon, disappeared for a few minutes, came back and said, "Go back to the pharmacy and the shots will be ready for you." This was impossible because of the backlog of prescriptions.
     Running back to the elevator, then running down the hall to the pharmacy, we began thanking God for his supernatural orchestration for us, using Angie to intervene with the pharmacy in getting Steve's prescription bumped up ahead of the many, many other patients waiting for their own meds. Some of the patients were in wheel chairs, others on gurneys, others pushing chemo poles, others waiting patiently for their meds that would relieve their pain, heal their cancers, etc.
     As was predicted by Angie, the shots were ready for us. Steve grabbed the sack of shots and signed the proper papers.
     We raced again to the elevator, then down the hall to meet Angie who ushered us into the exam room. I commented to Angie that if she would turn around I would like to see her wings, because she was doing supernatural angelic work for us. God tuned the proper angel for this feat, Angie, who was in a fantastic mood for late in the day for an oncology nurse who had seen all kinds of devastating effects of diseases during the day. However, she could speak with the necessary authority needed to influence the pharmacy tech, something we had not been able to do.
     Angie hurriedly demonstrated the steps to us for giving the subcutaneous shots. No problem, we could do it efficiently when we got home. We left Angie's presence praising her for being an angel to arrange the impossible feat for us.
     Running back down the hall to the elevator, still praising God for His orchestration, Steve called Sam, the hotel shuttle driver whom we call St. Samuel because of his loving and caring ministry to the hotel customers who are in cancer treatment. Steve told Sam about our situation, that we had to make the flight, but our luggage was still at the hotel.
     No problem. The orchestration had already been ordered by God. Sam asked what our luggage looked like. Steve told him and Sam went to the storage area, got our luggage, loaded it up in his van, came to the Main Building of MD Anderson Cancer Center and picked us up. We got to the airport in time to make the flight back home.
     When Sam unloaded our luggage from the van, Steve quickly told him the good report, that the tumors had shrunk to the place of being almost invisible. St. Samuel gave Steve a strong congratulatory hug.
     Sam drove off with a big smile on his face. He had previously told us that if he hears one good report a week that it keeps him dedicated to doing his ministry of transporting patients from the hotel to the treatment center. Steve gave Sam the boost he needed to continue for another week.
     Thank God for the eyes to see that He has performed orchestrations for us, using Angel Angie, the nurse at the treatment center, and Saint Samuel, the shuttle driver, to manage to get us to the airport on time.
     When we think about the published facts we have learned, that 100,000 patients a day are treated at MD Anderson, we are even more thankful that Angel Angie was able to do her part of the feat in pushing Steve's prescription to the top of the long, long list, and that Saint Samuel was able to do his part in finding our luggage and picking us up in time for the flight.
     Listen for God to tune up the orchestra in your behalf in answer to your prayers. It happens trillions and trillions of times a day, and we often call it a coincidence. They really are orchestrations by a Loving Father in our behalf.
     Aren't we lucky children to have such a wonderful Maestro for a Father!